Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) convened the Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) Joint Impact Validation Meeting on the 23rd of January 2020, in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The Joint Impact Evaluation aimed at assessing the level of performance towards fulfilling the project development objective (PDO), and the sustainability and reliability of the changes achieved. The evaluation assessed the changes that have occurred following the project’s intervention, important lessons learnt and recommendations for future design and implementation. The evaluation also looked at cross-cutting issues such as gender, nutrition, and environmental safeguards.
According to the Joint Impact Evaluation Report, in its 6th and final year of implementation, the number of technologies and management practices made available by APPSA to farmers and other end users by the end of 2019 is 314 technologies, against a cumulative target of 209. This represents a regional success rate of 150%. Of the total technologies, 152 are maize from a target of 244, representing a 62% achievement rate; 25 legumes, from a regional target of 42, thus a 60% achievement rate; 35 are improved rice varieties from a regional target of 98, thus a 36% achievement rate.
Additionally, the report shares that a total of 30 technologies and varieties are being promoted at regional level, between Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, which exceeds the target of 19 and includes 5 newly released provitamin-A maize varieties.
At the regional level, a total of 4,609,946 direct beneficiaries have been reached which represents a 76% achievement rate from the planned target of 6,100,000.
The stakeholders who participated in the APPSA programme were impressed with the level of collaboration and networking that manifested throughout the project lifecycle. As such, there is a need for future programmes implementation to utilize these established collaboration networks. This networking should be within and across the countries for continued collaborative growth. To avoid duplication of efforts and attain sustainable growth in the agricultural sector, knowledge sharing and collaboration is paramount.
